Computer Part Upgrade Advice

[Montanaro]

Okay ladies,

I'm planning on spending ~$150 USD on a new component for my PC.

Should I go with the new CPU? (X4 980 [4.1-4.2+ ghz OC] upgrade from X4 955 [3.8 ghz OC])

Should I go with new RAM? (16 gb DDR 2133 from 4 gb ddr 1600)

Should I go with 1 GB ATI 5770 Crossfired with current 1 gb 5750 (comparable performance to ATI cards 2.5x the price).

I'll eventually get all these parts within the next month and a half, so don't worry too much about bottlenecks. What will give me best FM performance (not the only game I play) more ram or faster CPU?

 

[Tharros]

IMO if you mainly play FM, get the CPU first. If you play other, more graphics intensive games more often, then get the GPU first. 16GB of RAM is a little overkill, but it is cheap, so why not. 4GB will do just fine for now so I'd get that last.

 

[Montanaro]

like you said it's cheap, and RAM is always in demand. 8-12 GB will be standard in next 3-5 years.

 

[tubby]

The most important thing I ever learned when buying/ upgrading PC's is that I find in general, CPU > *.

I'ev had 4gb RAM and an (at the time) amazing GFX Card - all make minimal difference if still running on one processor. I recently got a quad core and the difference is phenomenal.

If it's primarily for FM as well, graphics card should be bottom of your list. If your current card can run 3D mode, don't upgrade.

 

[Jak]

Faster CPU will give biggest performance increase for FM for sure. However make sure that the CPU is compatible with your current motherboard and that your power supply can handle the upgrade

 

[Montanaro]

I know all about that Jak, I've built a couple PCs.

I was just deadlocked and wanted some outside advice.

The x4 980 is just an upgraded version of my current 955. Fully compatible. Thing is, I'll likely buy the radiator I was talking about in my other thread, which raises the price to over 200 bucks.